The re-construal of ‘La Costurera’: A feminist re-interpretation of the role of the seamstress in El tiempo entre costuras/The Time Between the Seams (2013)

Prominent within an emerging trend of ‘quality’ narrative fiction productions in Spanish television, the recent Antena 3 adaptation of the bestselling novel El tiempo entre costuras/The Time Between the Seams offers a stylish feminist reclamation of 1940s fashion and a re-inscription of the culturally derided figure of the seamstress. The series was critically acclaimed, publically celebrated and commercially lucrative, creating a popular mainstream reinterpretation of the role of women during the Civil War and early Francoism. This article will demonstrate how both compositional and narrative interpretations of Joan Riviere’s masquerade are intrinsic within the series, and also fundamental in allowing the production to build a rich viewing experience. If the motif of costume is considered within a performative space, it can be interpreted as a denial of the persistent androcentric reading of fashion and of those women who worked in the industry under Franco. This article argues, therefore, that the protagonist of El tiempo entre costuras has emerged as an unlikely feminist icon within popular narrative screen fiction.